


Aware

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: Based on promo for 16x03, F/M, Fluff, Het, pre romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 18:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16247747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Time slows down for Ellie.





	Aware

**Author's Note:**

  * For [southernbookgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/southernbookgirl/gifts).



> southernbookgirl asked me to write something based on the promo for 16.03 - I tried but I had a wedding last weekend that ate up much of my writing time so this did not turn out as I planned. It’ll doubtless be jossed in mere hours but hey, I can write more then....

Being a field agent has taught Ellie that, in moments of danger, time seems to move in slow motion. Seconds become hours, bullets move slowly, punches take longer to land. And ever extra long second gives someone with a photographic memory even longer than usual to process every detail of what’s going on around them. 

So, when explosions rent the air and Ellie and Nick take shelter, Ellie’s very aware of shrapnel flying through the air, of the smell of burning and the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

But that’s not all. 

She’s also very aware of the feel of Nick’s body pressed right against hers, pressing her against the metal of their shelter. He’s shielding her body with his own, she realises, and she tries to shift so that he can take better shelter but he resists. As he does so, his body moves more tightly against her, trapping her in place and she becomes aware of some other things. 

Like the strength of his chest against her back, the solid weight of his arm over her shoulders. 

Like the scent of his cologne surrounding her, like his ragged breathing, matched with hers. 

Adrenaline, she tells herself, along with a hefty dose of fear. 

Which is true, but she knows only partly. 

She’s shaking even after the explosions stop and she counts to ten before she tries to move. Maybe Nick was doing the same because he shifts at the same time as she does, only a little though, only enough that he can look down at her, look into her eyes. 

What she sees in his makes her shiver again. 

“You ok?” His voice is rough, raspy. His eyes are dark, serious, fixed on her lips. 

She makes herself nod. “I’m good.” 

Once more, time seems to move in slow motion, stretching around them as they stay there, frozen in place, each staring at the other. 

Somewhere in the distance, a cell phone rings. Hers, in her pocket, and she shoots Nick a shaky smile as she pulls it out and answers it. 

“We’re ok,” she tells Gibbs, watching Nick as he stands up straight, extends his hand and pulls her to her feet. His hand is warm in hers and he holds it for a little longer than he should before he moves away. 

Ellie’s heart pounds as she watches him go. 

Fear, she tells herself. And a healthy dose of adrenaline. 

She knows both have nothing to do with the explosion.


End file.
